[2007NC335i]

First, please allow me to apologize, as I realize there are a number of posts on this general topic, but I have had a hard time finding a specific one for my application... 2007 335i US Manual Transmission, non-sport package.

I am looking to flush the coolant and it appears that this is not a trivial task, as to get to the radiator drain plug, you have to remove the FMIC (Front Mounted Intercooler).

My questions are as follows...

1) What is the easiest way to drain the coolant... I don't need to get every drop out - I just want to get the majority of the fluid?

2) I've been told to remove the lower radiator hose.... is this the way to go or is there another method for my specific car? I've got an 81 Corvette that I work on and would have no problem doing this on that vehicle, but does anyone have a very specific picture with a very specific procedure for removing the hose where it attaches to the radiator. I didn't see any simple 80's era screw clamps. :-)

3) I do not have access to a lift and consequently I usually just jack up the right side of my Corvette, put a car ramp under the right front and right rear tires and then do the same on the left. Is there a safe way to do this on my 335i? If not, what is the prescribed method for getting all 4 wheels into the air?

Again, please accept my apologies for this admittedly novice post - I just joined the forum and this is my first.

Any and all information would be greatly appreciated and pictures are worth a 1000 words, as I am not intimately familiar with the car yet.

[PTek Will]

You should be able to get away with just jacking up the front, higher on the passenger side to angle the drain plug to the lowest point. There's only 2 screws holding the FMIC and you just unclip the pipes and it should come out. The drain plug is blue and green so it's fairly obvious.

If you absolutely need to jack up the car on all 4 corners, I typically jack up one of the rear side jack points high enough so the front raises, stick a jackstand on the front. Then you should have enough clearance to reach the front jack point under the engine, it looks like a rectangle with rounded corners, about 4"x1.5" dimensions, it also has a bolt in the middle of it. This will raise the other front side, to which you can put another jackstand. and then from the back, i jack it up from the differential gear box. But i don't think you need to jack the rear end for a radiator flush.

The radiator took about a gallon in total fluid. I did a 50-50 mix with distilled water, so I only used 2 quarts of antifreeze.

Hope this helps!

[PA66400]

Here is a video showing that it is really not hard to remove the intercooler:

Having said that, all early production 335 water pumps fail. If yours has not failed, you will unlikely get more than 100k out of it. When they fail, the coolant is essentially exchanged during the replacement. BMW told me that the coolant is "lifetime" in my 335 - i.e. the lifetime of my pump, which was about 62 k miles. so, I have a collant flush, hopefully good for the "lifetime" of my new pump (?antoher 62k miles?).

[2007NC335i]

PA - Thanks for the video - that is very helpful. I'll attempt to take the intercooler off this weekend. As I have 2 cars, my 335 only has 45K miles on it, so the water pump, presumably, should be good for 2 or 3 more years at my 7K/year pace.

Is the blue drain plug on the radiator sufficient to get most of the fluid out or do I also need to remove a hose from the water pump? If the latter, anyone have a good picture/video of that?

Finally, just curious... what is the indication that the water pump has failed, other than the obvious engine temp rising rapidly. Is there a sensor on the dash that will indicate water pump failure so I'll have a few seconds warning before things start getting damaged?